A globe-trotting pooch!

June 27, 2011. Oscar the famous globe-trotting pooch is a star attraction at the East Coast Radio House and Garden Show. Ridge editor Garth Johnstone met Oscar and his pal and owner Joanne Lefson.

What do you get when you cross an Alsatian with a Cocker Spaniel, a Corgi and a Basset Hound? You get about 30kg of serious canine cuteness called Oscar.

Capetonian Joanne Lefson discovered this about seven years ago when she stumbled across Oscar at the Grassy Park SPCA in the Mother City. Oscar was one of thousands of dogs doomed to die every year in shelters around South Africa, not because of a lack of desire or endeavour on the part of the SPCA, but because not enough willing adopters of dogs can be found to prevent their sad deaths. The adoption rate in South Africa currently stands at below 10%.

See the video clip from Carte Blanche above. Footage courtesy World Woof Tour.

Footloose pooch: Happy days in India

After Joanne adopted Oscar she discovered that he was no ordinary dog. Everywhere she went, people were bowled over by his extraordinary cuteness (I can testify to this, having seen him in action at a Durban beachfront hotel recently; staff and guests alike almost fell over themselves to smother him with attention) and she soon came to realise that this could perhaps be used to highlight the plight of unwanted and abandoned dogs.

Now see “Dog swims with dolphin”.

There followed an extraordinary sequence of events that today makes Oscar one of the most popular dogs in the world. Google “Oscar globe-trotting dog” and you’ll get 484 000 results. Try googling yourself and you’ll see just how insignificant you really are next to this powerhouse pooch. I googled “Lassie dog” and got 3.5 million results, so Oscar’s well on his way to superstardom (and this post will add a few more notches to his belt, or so I hope).

Anyway, back to the story. Joanne sold up her house and the pair embarked on an amazing world tour (the World Woof Tour), travelling a total of 75 000km across continents. Some of the destinations and highlights are included in the fact panel below. Thereafter followed a tour around South Africa visiting hundreds of schools and 35 SPCAs along the way. With the aim to highlight the plight of abandoned dogs and try to increase rates of adoption around the world, the South African tour, in particular, was largely focused around education.

I asked Joanne about some of the challenges of shifting a dog around the world and across borders.

Oscar in Brazil during his journeys Ahound the World

“There are certain countries like England and Australia that demand quaranteening of dogs, so these were not an option, and even the countries where you don’t need to quaranteen have very strenuous requirements. You require import and export documents, rabies and all relevant inoculations have to be up to date. It’s quite a run-around.”

Posh nosh

And what about the food? “I didn’t have a sponsor for the world tour, so it was very much a case of making a plan as we went along. In some countries where there were no pet-friendly hotels, for example, I would simply sneak Oscar into the hotel and order room service.” Clearly a “boer maak a plan” team, Oscar and Joanne. She said though, that his health had been unaffected by all his adventures and he had only got sick once, after riding an elephant and brushing up against a plant which had irritated his skin.

For the South African tour Pedigree came on board, so logistics and the issue of food became less of a problem.

And in the pipeline? Joanne released her book, a tail tale called – you guessed it – Ahound the World at the end of 2010, and next year will see a hot air balloon trip to all the major centres in South Africa. The plan is all around marketing and publicising the cause of doggies needing adoption. The balloon will be in the shape of superstar Oscar. Oh it’s a dog’s life, for sure! – By Garth Johnstone

Saluting Nikita: Saying goodbye to a beloved friend

Oscar’s top exploits:

• Hanglided over Rio
• Zip-lined over forest in Costa Rica
• Met Pluto
• Lifted his leg on the Great Wall of China
• Walked with Masai warriors
• Swam in the Ganges River
• Took part in a peace march with 6 000 monks in Nepal
• In Moscow he paid tribute to the first dog in space (Laika became the first animal to go into orbit in 1957; unfortunately he gave his life to the cause)
• Visited primitive rural schools while travelling down the Amazon
• Fell in love with a dog called Zara in Romania
• Swam with crocodiles in the Zambezi

For more info go to: www.worldwooftour.com
Follow Oscar on Facebook

Catch Oscar and Jo at the East Coast Radio House and Garden Show at the Durban Exhibition Centre this week.

More from the UK’s Daily Mail: The £250 000 six-month trip around the world  -  which Joanne funded by selling her home  -  also took in an amazing 15 000 shelter dogs and more than 50 charity-run.

On their worldwide travels, Joanne and Oscar also handed out 15 000 dog leads to needy hounds donated by the parcel company UPS.